Many people who have an unknown dissociative disorder have been in therapy for years with little progress to show for it. Sometimes, they report they’ve made progress in some areas but that the main issue seems unchanged. That can be frustrating and disheartening.
When years of therapy doesn’t seem to lead to progress, consider two possibilities:
- The therapist isn’t the right therapist for you. If your system doesn’t feel at least somewhat safe with the therapist, progress is going to be harder to come by.
- The therapy may not be treating the root issue. If treatment focuses only on depression or anxiety, it may miss system dynamics contributing to those symptoms. Therapy may be directed at “you,” while the symptoms are largely held by other parts. In that case, the therapy isn’t reaching the parts of your system who need it
This page is part of the Therapy and Finding Safe, Supportive Healing section of the CommuniDID site, which explains how to evaluate therapists, recognize trauma-informed care, and understand what safe, phase-based DID treatment should look like.
Explore more:
- Questions about therapy and DID
- Why Trauma Therapy Often Begins with Stabilization for information about the phased approach to treating trauma.
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